GizChina’s Top 10 Stories Of 2016

We’re almost at the end of the year, in fact we’re so close I’m tempted to crack open a beer now, but before I do let’s look over the top stories of 2016.

This past year has really seen the Chinese mobile industry mature, and the majority of phones that come out of China are pretty damn good! Some are even class leading which has meant some seriously high traffic for certain GizChina stories.

Below I’ve listed the top 10 stores from 10 – 1 (1 getting the most views) along with a brief summary and some comments of my own. Just looking over at the top phone news of 2016 I can already see a pattern, let’s see if you can.

10. 7 accessories for the Xiao Yi Action Camera

I really surprised to see that this is our 10th most popular article of the year, but actually it makes perfect sense. The Yi Camera was affordable, offered great video and really became a thorn in the side of GoPro.

9. GooApple i7 is an iPhone 7 clone

It wouldn’t be a real year of Chinese tech news if GooPone and their merry band of clones did turn up somewhere. This year GooPhone announced details of their iPhone 7 clone before Apple made their phone official!

8. Xiaomi Mi5 Specs Leaked

Xiaomi were a little surprised with us when we posted the final specs of the Xiaomi Mi5 before the phone had even launched. While the renders we published did turn out to be inaccurate, the specs were a little off too!

7. Camera Shootout: OnePlus X vs LeTV Le1S vs Xiaomi Mi4c

Although posted back in 2015 this camera comparison between the OnePlus X, LeTV Le1S and Xiaomi Mi4C remained one of the most popular articles of 2016!

6. Bluboo Xfire 2 tri-SIM

Casting our minds back we don’t even remember if Bluboo ever did end up launching the Xfire 2. The reason the announcement of the Bluboo Xfire 2 was so popular was due to the claims it would be the world’s first 5-inch phone with 3 x SIM support! This is still a rare feature now.

5. Top 10 4G LTE Chinese Phones and U.S Carrier Support

While those of you in Europe and India don’t have much of an issue with Chinese phone support and compatibility on LTE networks, the same can’t be said for U.S fans of Chinese tech. Things have changed now and companies like Huawei, ZTE and LeEco all ship phones in the U.S but there is still a gap in network support.

4. LeTV Le1S Full Specifications

The LeTV Le1 really set the tone for LeTV (now LeEco) and we were all super excited to hear what features the updated LeTV Le1S would boast along with what improvements the start up had made to their most popular phone.

3. Video: Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 vs LeTV Le1S

I got my hands on both the metal clad budget phones this year from Xiaomi. You wondered how the phones compared to one another and I set about answering your questions with a full, in-depth comparison video. Would you like to see more videos like this in 2017?

2. How To Fix Facebook Messenger MIUI 6

Users of Xiaomi phones on MIUI 6 were having problems earlier in the year with chat head not appearing. Yash sat down and managed to figure the issue out and it proved to be uber popular! The 2nd most read GizChina article of 2016!

1. How To Manage Your Dual SIM Phone

Without looking at last year’s records I’m pretty sure that this was the best read article for 2015 too! This wasn’t a new article for this year and in all honesty it could probably do with an update, but even though it’s an old piece it’s still very relevant today and manages to be our most read article of 2016!